TOKYO -- The Japanese beer market may start seeing a wider variety of products following changes in the country's new liquor tax rules, which went into effect at the beginning of October.
Japan employs an unusual taxation system for beer, in which the tax rate falls into three categories, with the highest levies on standard beer and lower ones on low-malt beer, called happoshu, and no-malt beverages, known as third-tier beer or "new genre" beer. The system has led to intense competition in the lower-taxed categories.
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